Subjunctive with superlative

Question

I have been told to use the subjunctive in this instance:

"Ella es la persona mas guapa que sea en el mundo"

Is that correct? Can you give me more examples of using the subjunctive with the superlative with verbs other than "ser" or "vivir" (que viva en el mundo) or similar verbs, for example with an action verb like "cantar" something? It would help me wrap my mind around the idea of using with "mas que" "mejor" and "peor" to have more examples...

Thank you!

Answer 1

"Ella es la persona mas guapa que haya en el mundo"

The reason for using the subjunctive has nothing to do with the superlative. To suggest that the use of the superlative usually requires the subjunctive is nonsense.

Sorry for the typo. I thought it was REALLY weird too, but I thought I must have just never heard it explained like that. Perhaps I'm remembering the wrong example sentence. Thanks for the confirmation. P.S. this is kinmeg, I couldn't confirm my account. - kingerymeg, May 1, 2011

Ok. So I found the example that I heard. Their explanation is that in a relative clause that modifies a superlative expression, you use subjunctive because the superlative expression is considered to be an exaggeration. Still sounds odd to me... Thoughts? - kingerymeg, May 2, 2011

Answer 2

I'm curious about why you would use it too, Es la persona más guapa del mundo sounds much better to me.